So, I'm bored. I'm waiting for new filament, and some new equipment, and I have nothing to do in the meantime. Actually, that's not true. I have study I should be getting on with and I have (to a certain degree), but I've gotten bored with that too, so I've spent a good portion of the last couple of days actively procrastinating. Which is completely unproductive, and a great way to get me to procrastinate more. So, what the hey, I'm going to print out some more bits for the console. Not strictly speaking necessary until I get the new filament, but at least it will make the prototype console look finished.









The interior of the rotor was going to be printed from a clear PLA filament, similar to the same stuff I traditionally have printed roundels from. But I'd run out of it, and so wasn't planning on doing anything else. But, as previously mentioned, I'm bored; nuff said...?  

Anyway, while rummaging around in my box of filament spools, I found this:










... which may be darker than the clear I've used in the past, but hey, it'll do in a pinch! I'd also forgotten I had it, a completely untouched spool of Clear Grey. In fairness, I did inherit a lot of spare PLA filament when my brother upgraded his printer which uses a 3mm filament instead of 1.75mm. This was amongst that. Lucky me!    

So, first up, I used the dark grey that was already on the printer (close enough in terms of colour, and it prints beautifully) and got the base of the rotor down...






   






I actually had to print it twice; the first time, the first inner ring wasn't quite large enough to accommodate the rotor housing tube. After the second print, the exterior was slightly too large to fit nicely into the rotor gap on the console, but that was a hell of a lot easier to deal with (ie an electric vibration sander), than the inner ring would have been...










I hadn't used the clear grey before, so I was uncertain as to how it would print. As it turns out, very well...







The interior detail of the rotor was designed in a way to give the interior some rotational movement, with the separate layers moving in counterpoint to each other. I haven't quite figured out yet HOW I'm going to get them to do that, but since this is still essentially the prototype I figure I've got some time to work it out. Was also designed in such a way that it could be printed effectively with no overhangs, be centralised without slipping and sliding, and to give some inner life and texture to the rotor, without being overly complex that it was impossible to print. I think I found a happy solution (mostly)...







... there are 4 larger "stars" to make up the rotor. The 5th "star" on top is solid, but has a hollow tube that runs down the centre of the lower 4. It means the whole thing is essentially closed off, but is hollow so that the interior of the rotor can be lit, and give off that nice glow that appears in my renders...










The remainder printed without any issues...



   


   


   


   



... which only leaves assembly...
















... very happy with the result. I'm just thinking I may also go ahead and print the small triangular pieces that are recessed in the edge of the console. I have the clear already on the printer, so why not? Also... I'm getting bored again!    

I'm guessing I'll be talking to y'all again in the next day or so.

In the meantime, a nice gratuitous shot to send off the post...







Cheers,

D.

Tiny, small, eeny-weeny update:

1) Attempted to print the clear, mid-console inserts (the tessellating rhomboids that go around the perimeter of the mid-section). Not particularly successful, they just may be a bit too small for that. I am considering other options. Was thinking about blobs of hot-glue, pushed in and then scraped off at the edge and allowed to set. The only trouble is, you don't get a great deal of time to get it right, and if you get it wrong, then the console could be ruined. But I like the idea of some kind of malleable, clear plastic that can be pushed into the openings and allowed to harden. Does anyone have any good ideas?    

2) Getting bored and antsy again, so I thought I might attempt to print a wall section or two. Turns out, there is a fairly major design flaw with my larger wall sections, ie they're too large to fit on the print bed!        I don't know how I missed that! That's a BIG f***-up! Normally I'm pretty good with details like that, and I thought I had accounted for the piece sizes correctly when I did the sub-divisions. I'd even confidently made material quantity calculations based on what I had produced. Just as well I hadn't made any purchases at this point. As mentioned previously, the metal-fill PLA is expensive. It's important to get this right. And it's more than just the sub-division of the parts. I can't simply go through and re-sub-divide; a quick check shows that smaller sub-divisions won't work, practically or aesthetically. I need to go through and re-model the walls, making a smaller (although hopefully not noticeably smaller) console room. It's fortunately not going to be too difficult or complicated to do. Solidworks gives you a lot of freedom with regard to changing major design elements that were used early on to base the rest of the structure off, and then rebuild around it. It's a pain in the proverbial though. Just as well things have been proceeding in the way that they have thus far, or I may have caught it too late. Just as well the f***-up fairy was doing the rounds and decided to visit this week!    

Sorry for those who may have been hoping for a more positive and progress-filled update. I'll do my best to remedy that as soon as I can.

D.

Hi All, I know I haven't posted here in a while; there's been a lot happening in my life that kind of necessitated my absence from hobbies. It's gotten a lot better, so hopefully you'll be seeing more of me.

Another thing that prevented me coming back sooner was the destruction of my phone, and my 2FA along with it; so I haven't actually been able to access my account for a couple of months beyond that. But thanks to the help of davidnagel and Glen Walker, I've regained access and can start bombarding you all again  Lot to catch you all up on, on this post, and a bunch of new ones.

Talk more soon

D.

Glad to see you back.

Francïs

I had a few fairly long posts ready for this thread, just before the site went down. Essentially, progress stuff. And now, x no. of months later, I have NO idea what I was going to talk about  ⁠😂⁠ . Oh well, never mind...

The long and short of it is, I have progressed a bit. I ended up redesigning the way the walls were split into segments, so it's much cleaner, and the segments can actually FIT on the printer. I initially went to make the room smaller to get it to fit, but it ended up looking cramped and wrong, and I didn't really gain anything. So I went back to the beginning, and was smarter in the way I went about modelling it. Am very happy with the end result. The largest pieces only JUST fit on the printer bed; but they WORKED, which is all they needed to do.

I WILL need to increase the resolution of the prints though. There is some nasty rasterizing along the curves of the walls that I'm not overly fond of. I hope my printers are up to it...

I was looking at metal infill filament, and actually got some samples to try: some brass and bronze. Mmmmm... was not overly thrilled with the results. I seem to remember I had a funny feeling about it. Anyway, it was going to be horribly cost prohibitive, so in a way I'm kind of glad that didn't pan out.

I was also looking at something they call "Silk" PLA, which has a sheen and silky appearance not dissimilar from a metal sheen. I haven't got my hands on any of that yet. It was about the time the pandemic was starting to have an effect in my part of the world, and getting anything from overseas also became horribly expensive. So, having run out of "metal" filament, I did as much as I could with the same filament I printed the console with.

I had a few false starts, so I ended up wasting a fair amount. The room is NOWHERE near finished as a result, and looks a bit hodge podge. Chalking it up to experimentation and learning curve; this IS SLIGHTLY unknown territory for me with the unusual geometry. And it is by far the LARGEST model I will have made to date.

Another thing that has stopped me up until now has been my printers; they're temporarily out of commission. I did a few other prints after completing what I could on this console room, and then they both decided to pitch a hissy fit. They both need new heads. I hadn't got around to fixing those either, because everything in my life suddenly got horribly hectic. So that's another thing on the to-do punch card before I continue...

ANYWAY, I've probably prattled on enough; pretty sure y'all wanna see some pictures of where I've got to. Enjoy :)

First & second parts off the rank...




















... that's actually a big wall, especially when you see it next to Sylvester. For comparison, here is just the TOP section in the Season 18-20 Console Room...





... and the full wall...











... lower part of the first column...








... ok... looking good...








... so far, so good; no snags yet. First half of the main entryway up next...











... this is where I started to run a bit low on filament. I attempted to choose the pieces I was going to print wisely, but I ended up with some failed / somewhat failed prints  :P . Some are fine, some are not so fine, but essentialyy what follows is what I had to make do with. It's also about now that my test spools of bronze and brass arrived. So what follows is a slightly eclectic and eccentric mix. I also had a go at the Roundels. These aren't your typical roundels either, I was worried they may not fit...











... ooooh, shiny! The brass and bronze spools...


     


... and the first piece printed in bronze...








... notice how rough the surface is, how much stringing is left by the filament on the PLA, and although you may not be able to tell, it's actually very brittle. Not to mention that it actually looks like wood coming off the printer, as opposed to bronxe. Well; the idea is that you ARE supposed to polish it. I was able to clean it up somewhat, but it's actually not very conducive to sanding and polishing. Even buffed up it didn't look like bronze, and it was REALLLLY SLLOOOOOW. you can't use mechanical polishing, as it just melts the plastic!. Had the same issue with the brass as well. Anyway, what the hoo, I pushed on with the materials I had, in order to get as much done as possible...

... I'll cut a long story short and jump to where I'm up to... in the next post; I feel like I've crammed about as much as I can into this one  ;D

D.

Quote from: Jam Jar Lurker on Jul 25, 2021, 10:32 amGlad to see you back.

Francïs

thanks Francis, much appreciated

Ok, where were we...

I printed as much as I could with the bronze, which ultimately was one half of the Main Doorway Arch, and the full column to the left of it. Didn't QUITE get as much from the brass (Half of the Main Viewer Wall and the top section of the column, but uncompleted coz I ran out of material before the print finished), but in fairness the section of walls were larger then the door arch, so there was less to spread around...






























I also moved some parts around so that I would have as "complete" a section as possible, even though it makes the whole thing look even more string-and-sticky-tape than it already was. The brass DID print better than the bronze, but it was still rough and stringy, not to mention brittle. Again, it didn't polish up that well either, and ultimately didn't look like brass, or at least not much like the kind of brassy colour I was hoping for / expecting.








... and that's pretty much where we're at. I'm HOPING to have my machines in working order shortly, AND to have the necessary filament to print this model in its full, wondrous glory. However, things are still a bit tight, and the uni semester has begun now, so I'm unlikely to find the time before around November-ish. We'll see how we go...

A few final shots, and I'll see y'all next time I have some news for you  ...














Cheers,

D.

Ummmm.... yah, back again 

Forgot to add a couple of other images I had. I did some more renders of the console room last time I was editing it. They're higher quality than the ones I've done to date, thought I'd share























Also, I have uploaded a bunch of new stuff in a new thread:

Ark In Space

... need I say more? 

D.

Love it!
Francïs